Galaxy vs. Chivas Guadalajara Preview

By: Laurie | July 28th, 2007

Here’s the LA Times’ list of probable starters for tonight against Chivas Guadalajara. (And don’t blame me that it’s in no particular order. I’m only telling you what The Times says.)

Joe Cannon
Abel Xavier
Ante Jazic
Ty Harden
Troy Roberts
Kyle Martino
Kelly Gray
Landon Donovan
Cobi Jones
Carlos Pavon
Alan Gordon

It lists David Beckham and Edson Buddle as “off the bench,” but then goes on to say “Beckham, 32, won’t play tonight because of an ankle injury.” (Because he so totally was not suffering from an ankle injury on Saturday. But this game doesn’t have international coverage. Plus I’ll bet that Jennifer Love-Hewitt won’t be there. So of course he won’t play. Because you only put your superstar at risk when big bucks and major publicity are involved.) So your guess is as good as mine as to whether or not he’ll appear on the field. I’d guess not. The Galaxy homepage is, as usual, silent on the issue.

Chances are quite high I’m going to miss this one again, since it’s AFTG — Another Freakin’ Telefutura Game. I could probably see it at a tiny local Mexican cantina if I were willing to arrive two hours early to sit in a plastic chair at a plastic table while withstanding the glares of Spanish-speaking males who resent me for taking up a spot when I couldn’t possibly care about the game. (I’ve done this before. Can you tell? Not sure I have the energy tonight.) So if you’re at the game, please tell me about it. I get a better feel for what actually happened from you than I do from the boring formal match reports because you don’t have to be diplomatic.

But anyhoo. Somebody tell me about Chris Klein. I see he played against Pachuca in the midfield, and he’s not listed as an expected starter tonight. (Not that the list of expected starters means anything, since it’s always wrong.) I had high hopes for him when he played rightback against Chicago. Not so much when I’ve seen him in the midfield, though. How did he do against Pachuca? And do you think Troy Roberts is really better at rightback? And was this maybe just the worst trade ever in history, or is it too early to tell? (And by this I of course mean: Love you, Chris! I still have high hopes!)

On a personal note, I’m back in town but my internet connection at home is down. What this means is that I have to leave the house to post anything and I have none of my bookmarks, so doing any research is a challenge. I’m hoping the Verizon internet guy can get out to my house early in the week, at which time things should get back to normal.